


The Legend of The Rushing Riptide

by calmaekel



Series: Backstories [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Abuse Mentions, Backstory, Coming of Age, Friendship, Gen, Irondad, Magic, Marvel Norse Lore, Mutant Powers, Mutants, Mythology - Freeform, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Water
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22976353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calmaekel/pseuds/calmaekel
Summary: Kelda Fiskedottir has dreamt of a world she's never seen before, and it all comes crashing down before her... literally.Kelda's BackstoryWritten by Julia Merollis
Relationships: Peter Parker & Original Female Character(s), kelda fiskedottir & calliope green, peter parker & calliope green
Series: Backstories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1643659
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter One: The Awakening

Kelda always wanted to see the world. Day in and day out, for years, she dreamed of what it would feel like to breathe fresh air, feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, the wind in her hair. She wanted to move and never stop. She wanted to at least see the rest of her house. Even the other side of her door would be something new to her. 

Ever since Kelda was a little girl, she’d lived in a tiny hut she shared with her parents. 24 hours a day (except for supervised bathroom breaks), she sat in her bedroom with the door locked, waiting for her father to sneak her scraps of food, or a crayon and a piece of paper, or a book of legends, which she hid in a loose floorboard so her mother wouldn’t find out. If she did, she would hurl knives in the form of insults, cutting deep in their skin. Kelda knew that her father was more afraid of her mother than she was because she was almost never the victim of her attacks. She knew what could happen if Kelda fought back, so she usually left the violence for her husband, away from the eyes of their daughter. But, just because she couldn’t see it, doesn't mean she didn't know it was there. She saw the bruises and cuts her mother left behind. She felt his anxiety any time she was around. 

Kelda felt her parents’ emotions as strongly as if they were her own. Her father’s fear and her mother’s anger both radiated so strongly inside Kelda that she started to believe the emotions were hers. She frequently had outbursts of anger or crying spells and felt so emotionally unstable sometimes that she curled up into a ball and laid there for hours. She didn’t feel that she had any emotions other than fury and anxiety. She didn't like to think about her parents’ fights, but it was hard when she could see the fear in his eyes whenever he smuggled something in and sense the pure unadulterated rage her mother held inside her thin little body, always on the verge of boiling over. She had more strength in her than most men, and her father didn’t have anything to defend himself against her, other than his towering height. Kelda did, however, and both her mother and her father knew it. However, Kelda was completely unaware that her parents had any idea she was different, though that wouldn’t have changed anything anyway. 

  * •••••



For as long as she could remember, Kelda had power. In her stash under the floorboard, among the everchanging smuggled treasures, laid a cup and a journal. At night, while her parents restlessly slept, she would pull out the cup and fill it with water, but not from the tap. The water came from the air. She changed the water vapor’s molecules into a liquid. She didn’t quite understand why she could do it, but she knew it made her special, and she also knew that if her mother found out, it would be over for the whole family. After every trial or experiment, she would write down what happened with it along with her thoughts of the day in general. It was a therapy for her, but she had to keep it hidden. If her mother found out she was practicing, Kelda was certain there would be a war in that house, which is why she never practiced (or wrote) while her parents were awake, for fear that they’d find out. Instead, every night for hours, she would make tiny waves in her little cup. 

After years of practice due to boredom or stress, the water flowed easily from above the cup into it in a steady stream. It was a lot easier than it used to be. She no longer had to focus very hard to change the water vapor from a gas to a liquid to a solid and back. Some days her attention bounced from thought to thought to thought without any control of Kelda’s, and when she realized she was still messing with the water, she would almost drop it. 

As the sun was setting on yet another day, after yet another unimportant argument had gotten out of hand between her family causing them to retreat to different places in the house, Kelda was heated. She wanted to slam a door or break a window, but she couldn't do either. The window had iron bars and a heavy curtain over it, and the door was locked and barricaded shut from the outside. She did what she had to do when she needed a release of excess energy. She practiced her power. She held a sphere of water in the air in front of her. Her small cup was underneath it. The ball was twice the size of anything she had ever conjured. She swelled with pride but stopped short. She saw something in the rolling sphere. She looked closer. It looked like a person.

 _Who is that?_ she thought. 

Kelda tilted her head, moving forward, and was startled to find out that it moved when she did. 

_Is that… me? Do I look like that?_ she questioned.

Her skin was pale white, and her hair cascaded in waves to her mid-back. The bottom half was brown, which she already knew. What she didn't know was that her hair grew in a dirty blonde before turning the brown she had known it as since it was long enough to pull in front of her face to look at. Along with that, she saw her eyes for the first time. They were shiny blue-green and full of life, a stark contrast to the dead grey eyes of her parents. Though her face was as pale as the rest of her skin, her high-set cheekbones had a pinkish color which made her look lively.

She sat staring at her reflection, studying it, not registering the world outside of what was in her vision, when her door opened. She immediately dropped the water with a splash into the wooden floor and froze.

“Iwasn’tdoinganything,” she cried without taking a breath.

“Hey, hey, relax. It’s okay. I know,” he hesitated before saying the next part, “and your mother knows too. She is away right now.”

Her father, Fiske, was standing in her doorway, taking up the full height of it. His long, wavy, dirty blonde hair resembled the new growth on her own head. He stepped in and knelt down, pulling Kelda into a hug. The top of her head reached his chin, which Fiske often used as a chinrest. 

“I know you’ve been practicing. I figured you ought to after all this time with nothing to do. I’m so sorry about all of this,” he said softly.

“Why? You are not the one locking me away. You’re the one on my side,” she said, confused.

“I know you don't understand right now. I tried to hint at it in the letters I’ve slipped under your door, but I wasn't very clear. I'm going to explain something to you. Are you ready?” he asked.

“I’m not sure, but you seem, um, scared. Maybe yes, tell me,” she spoke, stumbling over her words. She didn't often have to talk, especially when she was being berated, and it was proving quite difficult for her. “I’m ready.”

“Alright, I’m going to try to explain. There are waters that run in our realm, the frozen rivers of Élivágar that come from the well of Hvergelmir. It is said to be impassible-”

“Then how will I pass it if it is impassible? My powers are not very strong.”

“You are the only one in this realm that has power. They say it is impassible because they don't know about you.”

“I don't understand. Why do I have power? Where did it come from?”

“Listen, søta.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed once. Kelda squeezed back twice. “It’s guarded by a dragon named Nidhogg. He is the gateway to Midgard, where Earth is. I’ve heard wonderful stories about Earth. People from all over the universe go there to be freed. To get the ride to freedom, you have to pass the river, and the dragon will take you where you need to go,” he explained. 

“I like that. How do I get there? It seems scary,” she wondered.

“There has been a prophecy told for many many ages and generations. It says that someone of pure heart, a heart that’s alive, not like the dead ones like the people of this realm have, will pass the impassable river and escape Niflheim. I believe this is about you, Kelda. You can escape here. You can stop the water. Your mother always thought it would be her to stop the river and escape, but she has no power. When she found out you had power, it caused resentment toward you that you don’t deserve. I kno-”

The door crashed open so hard it ripped from the hinges. Kelda jumped to hide behind her father. 

“HOW DARE YOU TELL HER SUCH LIES! SHE HAS NO POWER, NOR WILL SHE EVER!” Kelda’s mother latched onto Fiske, sending a mirage of violent hits to his back. He held his arms up and deflected some of the blows, but didn't throw anything back at her. He whipped around to face Kelda.

“You have to go! Run to the-”

She took the vase she kept outside Kelda’s door and smashed it over Fiske’s head. He slumped to the ground, unconscious. Blood trickled from his head onto the floor. Kelda looked at him, horrified.

“What did you do? How could you hurt my father like that?” Kelda yelled.

The anger bubbled up in her like a hot spring. She had to do something. She had to get out of there, but she didn’t know what to do. Instinct took over. Her anger had turned into a tidal wave, in the most literal sense. A guttural scream crawled up her throat as she threw the wave. The sound of splintering boards filled the space. The roof was ripped from the walls, and the walls smashed open. Kelda’s mother was nowhere to be seen because Kelda was no longer in the house. The power of the wave had thrown her out into the front yard onto her back. When she gained her breath, she stood up and looked at the wreckage. She didn’t know what to do, and she didn't know where to go; she just ran.


	2. Chapter Two: The Pit Stop

After fifteen minutes of running, Kelda’s lack of prior exercise and her adrenaline wearing off stopped her in her tracks. She dropped to the ground on her hands and knees and took in shallow breaths until her heart rate slowed. As she slowly got up, she realized the ratty beige pants her father had given her were covered in dirt.

_ Oh no, I hope I didn't ruin them, _ she worried.  _ At least my tunic is fine.  _ She tugged at the loose fabric, unscathed by the torments the outside conditions had put her through. Her hands moved from the tunic to rub at her bare arms. The bite of the air caused a layer of goosebumps to coat her skin.

Kelda breathed out and started moving again, more slowly this time. She didn’t know where she was, but she figured she might as well keep going straight. After all, if the rivers ran around the whole realm, as long as she kept going forward, she would get closer to the edge.

The further forward she went, the colder the air got, and the more things were iced over. Her skin felt like it was frozen. After a few hours walking forward through the streets of the cities she’d come across, the night had begun to fall, and Kelda started to grow hungry and tired. The city around her was small. There were a few houses and businesses around on the main street and a few more of each on other neighboring streets. The dark of night was warded off in the slightest bit by of the dim glow of the lanterns outside.

She wandered around for a little while longer before entering a small pub. It was run down and small, but she figured she’d try to ask for something to eat. She opened the shabby brown door and walked in. There was a bard in the corner of the building singing and playing a light brown lute.

“ There once was a maiden from Stonebury Hollow. She didn't talk much, but boy, did she swallow. I had a nice lance that she sat upon. The maiden from Stonebury who is also your mom.”

_ I wonder what happened to my mother. I hope my father escapes her.  _ Kelda was lost in thought for a minute until she heard some familiar words.

“-she must get across the impassible river, the girl with the power to cross over shores.”

_ Oh no. They know. Everyone knows. Does anyone know it’s me? I should just pretend that I didn't hear it. I can’t let anyone know. Just stay calm. _

She approached the old woman at the counter. She seemed to have been watching Kelda the whole time she was there. She looked decrepit and angry. Kelda cautiously approached her.

“Hello. Do you have um, any food?” she asked cautiously.

“Yes,” the woman said gruffly.

They sat there staring at each other in silence for a while.

“Are you gonna order somethin’?” the old woman asked, starting to lose patience.

Kelda realized she needed to explain. She took a deep breath and spoke. 

“I’ve been traveling all day and I don‘t have any money. Could you-”

“Absolutely not. I’ve had enough of all you freeloaders!” The woman’s voice started to rise. She stopped and took a breath. She walked to the kitchen and pulled out some various food scraps, mostly crusts of bread, and a small cup of rice. 

“Here. I hate rats so you might as well take these so they don’t get to them.”

“Thank you!” Kelda wolfed down the food faster than she had ever eaten before. She paused for a second after realizing she would need somewhere to sleep so she could have the energy to keep going. The food could only do so much. 

“Um, do you know if there’s anywhere I can stay the night?” Kelda asked. 

“I’m done helping. Figure it out.” The woman was over it. 

Kelda finished her food and got up, uttered a thank you, and walked into the cool night. The sky was completely dark by the time she found a thicket by the outside of the city to curl up into. She fell asleep, freezing, but full. 

When Kelda woke up, every single joint was stiff. She could barely move, so she slowly wiggled her fingers and toes, and then her wrists and ankles, and moved her elbows and knees until she could attempt to stand. The first two attempts didn’t work out very well, but by the third attempt, she was up and moving. She started jogging to get the blood pumping.

After about twenty minutes of jogging, her stamina started running low. She slowed to a walk. She realized that she was a far enough distance away from home that she could slow down and take in the world around her for the first time. It was pretty dreary and sad. The landscape was slick with ice, and the skies were gray and cloudy. The more she looked around, the more she realized how wrong of a place she was in. The bitter cold of the air and the monochrome land just wasn’t a place Kelda could ever feel comfortable in. Everything felt off in a way she couldn’t explain.

She kept walking forward and stayed lost in thought for a long while until she was jolted out of it by a strong gust of wind that chilled her all the way through to the bone. She looked around, startled. Her eyes focused in on her target. She could finally see it in the distance: a river shooting flying ice down its current, along with rushing water. She had finally made it to the gate.


	3. Chapter Three: The Beginning

###  Chapter Three: The Beginning

The  Élivágar  churned forward so forcefully that there was a wide splash zone on the edge of the bed. It stretched out so far in front of her that she couldn't see the edge of the other side. Not only that but the ice chunks that flowed downstream shot into the air and came back down again. The smaller ones shattered on the ground and the river’s surface. The larger, heavier ones crashed into the water but stayed intact. 

_I do not know if I can do this. I have not had enough practice, and this is a lot of water,_ she thought, _but_ _I have no choice. I must hold back the river._

The air was getting exponentially colder with every step closer to the edge. The temperature was relentless and unforgiving. The wind whipped Kelda’s hair around her face and she couldn't see anything. She knew she had to keep moving. She was starting to go numb from the frigid temperature. Fight or flight kicked in high gear. Her options were: get across, go home, or die, but going home wasn’t an option anymore, and she had been through too much already to just give up and let nature take her away without a fight. Even still, she felt the warm panic spread through her body. Her mind was halfway to shutting down. She was starting to lose focus, and what vision she had through her hair was starting to go blurry. She didn’t know what to do.

She stopped for a second to regain composure. She closed her eyes, which were almost freezing over, and crossed her arms to hold onto her shoulders. She felt desperation consume her body and course through her veins. It was now or never.

Kelda stepped forward, fists clenched together. She opens her hands, drawing the closer half of the rushing water up into the air. It felt as if she was trying to levitate an army of men, everyone trying to move on their own while something was trying to corral them all together. The strain was almost unbearable. She pushed the rushing rapids a bit to the side and held it steady. She moved forward into the riverbed. The further forward she went, the more water behind her that she let go of, and the more in front of her she gained control of. Ice was shooting past above her head. Though she was holding most of it back, water sprayed at her and soaked through her clothes. She felt a bone-chilling cold. Her skin was starting to turn black, and her nostrils freezing shut. Her eyes were so cold that they burned, and she blinked over and over to warm them up before deciding to squeeze them tight and let intuition guide her instead. She then realized that that was a terrible idea after a small chunk of ice hit her arm. She decided to alternate between opening and closing her eyes.

Tears streamed down Kelda’s face, leaving ice trails as they froze. She had never felt such excruciating pain before. She inched forward, all of her muscles on fire as she dropped the water behind her and picked up what was in front of her. She quickly ducked as an ice chunk flew by her face. 

_ That was a close one,  _ she thought while continuing to move forward. She couldn't lose focus now.

Out of the corner of her eye, a big, black figure was moving toward her. It was the dragon. She couldn't remember the name, but she knew it was the door to her salvation. Kelda stepped closer to the dragon on the other side. She felt weaker than she ever had in her life. Her vision was going fuzzy. She was almost across the river, but her head was pounding so hard that she could barely comprehend what that even meant. Fear boiled inside of her as she used the last of her energy to step forward onto the other side of the riverbed, and at that moment, a giant piece of ice smashed against her head, and her vision went black.


	4. Chapter Four: The Meeting

The first thing Kelda felt when she came to was pain. All over. She tried to open her eyes, but they were too heavy. She was lying flat on her back, and her heart was racing. It was chilly, but not cold. She heard voices, a female and a male. 

“What is she?” asked the female voice. She sounded young; a teenager probably.

“I don’t know. I haven't gotten the chance to ask her yet,” the male voice exclaimed, sounding about the same age as the female voice.

“I know that, dipshit, I was thinking out loud.” She sounded angry.

“Hey, I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid.”

Kelda fought to open her eyes. After a bit of a struggle, she opened her eyes and saw that she was in the middle of a dark road in between two buildings. She saw the two people speaking. And they were staring right at her, eight inches from her face.

Kelda screamed. A fire hydrant burst. The street rapidly started to flood.

“Holy shit, we gotta call Tony,” said the girl. 

“On it,” said the boy. He started speaking quickly into a glowing black box. “Uh, Mr. Stark. There’s a girl here that fell from the sky and we startled her and she exploded a fire hydrant and now the street is flooding.”

Kelda heard a muffled yelling, and the boy talked over it. “I didn’t mean to startle her! I didn’t know who she was so I went to look closer and I guess she has power or something because now the street’s underwater.” 

The girl grabbed the device. “Yeah, he’s not lying Mr. Stark. I’m just as confused. We have no idea what’s going on. Can you come down here and help us?”

As they talked, Kelda looked at them with wonder.  _ More people. I’m not alone anymore,  _ she thought. 

She studied them. The girl’s hair was pink, and she had a grey mask over her face. She was wearing a navy blue suit with white detailing. The boy was in a red and blue full-body suit with a spider on the front.

After they hung up, the girl walked over to Kelda. She held out a hand. Kelda stared at it.

“Here, take my hand.” Kelda grabbed the girl’s hand and she helped her up. She immediately noticed how high the girl had to look to make eye contact with her, but the girl either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “Hey, I’m Calliope Green, but most people call me Cal.”

“H-hello. My name is Kelda. Where am I?”

“We’re in Queens,” said the boy as he walked over to them. “New York.”

“What is Queens?” Kelda asked. “Have I made it past the gate? Did the dragon bring me here? Where is he now?”

“Uhh… I don’t know the answer to most of those questions, but yes, we are on Earth. We’re in Queens, which is in New York, which is in America,” said the boy. “Oh, and my name’s Peter. Parker.”

“What’s America?” Kelda asked.

“You know what? Doesn’t matter. Just-” Cal was interrupted by a flying metal object. “There he is.”

The suit descended and put the fire hydrant back together. He floated over to everyone and landed.

“Alright, what’s going on?” His voice was loud and irritated-sounding.

Kelda’s eyes went wide and she started trembling. “What is that and how is it speaking?”

“I have a name, you know.” The suit opened up and a man walked out. “I’m Tony. I’m here to make sure everyone stays safe. I want to make sure nothing followed you here. Where did you come from?”

“I’m Kelda from Niflheim,” she said, immediately more comfortable now that she could see that the man meant no harm.

“Niflheim… s’that one of the Nine Realms?” he asked.

“Yes. I ran away after I got into a fight with my mother. She did not like that I had powers. She locked me away. My father told me a prophecy that someone would be able to cross the river  Élivágar. Ice hit my head while I held the water back, and when I woke up, your children were staring at me.”

Tony laughs, then notices a car pulling up. “And there’s Happy,” he said. 

A shorter man got out of the car. “So what’s this?” he asked.

“She’s from another realm, like Thor. I wanna take her back and make sure she’s not gonna kill us all,” Tony said matter-of-factly. 

“I feel like we go through stuff like this every other week.” He turned to Kelda. “My name is Happy. Get in the car. Peter, Calliope, you too.”

“What did we do?” Peter asked with mock offense.

“Knowing you, something stupid. But, I actually just want you to keep the new kid company,” Happy stated.

“Wait, you know Thor?” Kelda’s eyes widened.

“Wait, YOU know Thor?” Tony asked.

“No! I’ve just read his legends. He’s amazing.” Kelda felt her face go hot.

Tony stepped back into the suit, exchanged a look with Happy, and flew off. Kelda just stared at him as he went, mesmerized by everything that had just happened.

“Come on, Kelda. We gotta go,” Calliope called.

Kelda snapped out of it. “I am coming,” she said. “Where are we going?”

“Avengers Compound,” Peter said.


End file.
